A man who stole nearly £70,000 in cash from the nightclub he worked in has been jailed for six months, after appearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday, August 9.
Jordan Rowlands, from Gelligaer, admitted stealing £69,137 over a period of 19 months from the Retro nightclub on Mill Lane, Cardiff.
Managers at the 90s-themed bar noticed a dip in takings during his shifts, and challenged Rowlands, 23, to provide his online bank statements after he denied the thefts.
He later told police he stole the £69,137 in “revenge” against club bosses who disliked him and made him work long hours.
Prosecutor Tony Trigg told Cardiff Crown Court: “When questioned by police he was surprised at the amount he had taken. He thought it was about £20,000.
“When asked about why he did it he felt the management didn’t like him, and it was revenge for the long hours he had to work at the club.”
The court also heard that Rowlands later changed his story, claiming he had gathered debts of around £15,000 while caring for his mentally-ill mother.
Instead, he used the money to pay for designer clothes and other luxury items.
Leah Pollard, defending, said the offences were “completely out of character”.
Judge Patrick Curran QC jailed Rowlands for six months, and told him he had shown a “lack of maturity” in what was an “unsophisticated” crime.
The judge said: “You stole nearly £70,000, committed over a period of some 19 months.
“It was not a sophisticated form of theft and you were likely to be caught.”
I trust Mr Rowlands will be made to pay back every last penny.
I doubt that an order would be made for the repayment of the money, had that been done it would have reflected in a lighter sentence, probably a community order,, and the poor man suffer would suffer further degradatio by having to retrun the money he stole? Young people who cause considerable damage to someone property, car etc are let off cost free by the police, who rarely make a claim on behalf of the victim, too much paper work!!!!!!